Grading schools on treatment of gays.

As part of a national evaluation of school district performance on assuring safety and respect for gay and lesbian students and making their institutions more accepting places, 62 chapters of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSTN) will issue report cards. They are designed to recognize district leadership and bring to the public's attention school's failures to prevent discrimination and harassment against homosexuals.

Of America's 55,000,000 students, as many as 97% hear homophobic remarks at school from their peers and 53% hear similar comments from their teachers Nineteen percent of gay and lesbian students suffer physical attacks associated with their sexual orientation. When that occurs, a mere three percent of faculty members will intervene. In all, the typical high school student hears anti-gay slurs as often as 25 times a day. The number of gay and lesbian students who skip school at least once per month is almost identical to the number who face physical abuse from fellow classmates.

These numbers, along with legal action taken by homosexual students against their school systems for failure to protect them from harassment, have brought to light the need for a nationwide advocacy effort to protect homosexual youngsters, estimated at nine percent of the total school population, from such discrimination. With lesbian, gay...